Record-breaking Turkish diver Şahika Ercümen draws attention to plastic pollution in the Bosporus.Credit: Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty
The ocean’s role in a healthy planet
“For too long, the ocean and seas, 71% of Earth’s surface, have been under-represented at some of the world’s most influential global environmental-policy processes,” says a Nature Editorial introducing a powerful initiative led by 14 world leaders — which this week has published important findings in Nature. (Nature | 6 min read)
Among them, these leaders manage nearly 40% of the world’s coastlines, 30% of the world’s exclusive economic zones, 20% of the world’s fisheries and 20% of the world’s shipping fleets. On the basis of the evidence accrued, they have committed to the sustainable management of 100% of their national waters by 2025. (Nature | 5 min read)
Ocean issues affect far more than the 14 countries of the Ocean Panel, admits Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who co-leads the panel. “Still, we must start somewhere,” she writes. “We are hopeful our ranks will grow over time, because the benefits of better management are beyond doubt.” She describes how Norway no longer approaches oil, transport, fisheries, aquaculture and minerals separately, but monitors and manages ocean activities across sectors. (Nature | 5 min read)
Solberg spoke to Springer Nature’s editor-in-chief Philip Campbell in a special Nature Podcast about the world leaders’ bold pledges to protect and sustainably use the world’s oceans. (Nature Podcast | 15 min listen)
Policy commitments can’t come too soon. In September, more than 100 aquatic scientific societies, representing more than 80,000 aquatic scientists from all 7 continents, issued a call for urgent action to slow the impact of climate change on the freshwater and marine ecosystems that they study. “Fish biologists, we tend to be quiet and in the background. We don’t like to put ourselves out there,” said Scott Bonar, who spearheaded the statement as president of the American Fisheries Society. But “if we don’t control emissions, then a lot of our aquatic ecosystems as we know them can disappear. And it’s happening right now. These changes are happening right now.” (azcentral | 10 min read)
Reference: The ocean in humanity’s future report & World aquatic scientific societies statement
Source: http://feeds.nature.com/~r/nature/rss/current/~3/oRyhksa7Ugg/d41586-020-03455-2